A few words on the privileges of Karaites in polish lands Cover Image

Słów kilka o przywilejach Karaimów na ziemiach polskich
A few words on the privileges of Karaites in polish lands

Author(s): Gustaw Michał Akartel
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Karaites; Jews; privileges; restrictions of freedom; Kingdom of Poland; Grand Duchy of Lithuania;Russian Empire;

Summary/Abstract: According to historical data, Karaites, as an ethnic group and as a religious community, settled in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the Grand Duke Vytautas. Of their own free will or compulsion, the Karaites began to settle, first of all in Trakai, and then Vilnius, Galich and other places, as evidenced, in particular, by the recognition of privileges and their extension by subsequent Lithuanian princes, Polish kings and Russian emperors. Karaites never constituted a large ethnic group, both in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, and, after the partition of the Polish Commonwealth. In the western regions of the Russian Empire, especially since their number was in the 18th century, declined (the rebellion of the Haidamakas, and then due to the plague). In addition to the problem of Karaites, the article also pays attention to the (comparatively) legal, and not only, restrictions for the larger Jewish population.

  • Issue Year: 4/2020
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 88-101
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish
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